Amherst, Clearview school boards act on Lorain County survey results

LORAIN — Amherst and Clearview school boards passed resolutions last week to return local control to public schools.

According to a survey in January in Lorain County, a majority of residents feel connected to local public schools, believe their schools do a good job and prepare students for the future, and think quality teachers provide the most important indicators of quality education, according to the resolution.

The resolution indicates that government leaders shifted non-academic functions to public schools, and in 1983, in response to a report, “A Nation at Risk,” accelerated the burden and mandated more changes in public education.

The mandates siphoned nearly $1 billion in tax dollars from Ohio public schools into for-profit, online and other charter schools, and relied on high-stakes tests to measure the worth of public schools. This reduced the ability of schools to provide students with a balanced education, according to the resolution.

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The mandates also place an “unfair burden on our teachers” by judging performance on a test and increasing government control while decreasing local control of schools, according to the resolution.

Residents do not support state and federal school reform mandates that impact them and their school systems, according to the resolution.

Also, most residents believe increased state testing has not helped students, that student test scores from one standardized test should not be used to evaluate teacher performance and that tax dollars should not support vouchers for for-profit, online and other charter schools, according to the resolution.

“Education policy decisions made at the state level are not in the best interest of our students and that there should not be more state and federal government control over our public schools,” the resolution related.

The vast majority of residents are unaware of the scope and impact of educational mandates, according to the resolution.

“Therefore, it is time to return local control to our public schools by asking our state legislators in Lorain County to draft legislation requiring Ohio’s citizens to have an opportunity to review and discuss changes in education policy before they turn into educational mandates,” the resolution related.

The school board for Lorain City Schools, operating under the authority of the Lorain Academic Distress Commission, which was appointed by the state of Ohio, did not pass a similar resolution, said Tim Williams, president of the Board of Education.

State involvement at Lorain City Schools is good for the district, Williams said.